Winter Solstice 2010: The Gabriel Initiation

Tuesday, December 21, 2010 is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

This is a long newsletter, because we take a look at the Winter Solstice Traditions from various Mystery School Traditions and religions from around the world. It's fascinating to see the parallels between them all.

And we also offer instructions for a set of beautiful meditations: a special Solstice Meditation designed to unite the aspirant with the Invincible Sun -- the Christ within -- and a Gabriel Meditation, calling upon the Archangel of the new Winter season to transform our lives. And to top it all off, we present a beautiful song-poem by Buffy St. Marie entitled "God is Alive, Magic is Afoot", which captures the essence of this Sacred Season. So please be patient and read on. . .

Solstice 2010 is the day the Sun enters into Capricorn, conjuncting Pluto, which not too long ago entered this Earthy sign of large organizations, public and private for a multi-decade long stay that will transform our entire global society. And this year's Solstice is a promise that we can transform our lives and our society, and fulfill our dreams for a life with a Higher Purpose than mere survival, domination, or accumulation.

Solstice Secrets of the Mystery Schools of the East and the West

The Solstice has been a holy day around the world for thousands of years. The holy days marking the beginning of the four seasons are known as the "cross-quarter days" because the two equinoxes and the two solstices divide the plane of the ecliptic into four equal parts. The plane of the ecliptic is the apparent yearly path of the Sun in space, which seems to an observer on the ground to be moving around the Earth.

The lengths of the seasons are unequal because of the changing velocity of the Earth in its orbit. The change in velocity is caused by the fact that the Earth's orbit is elliptical, and so as the Earth travels along its path through space, it builds up increased momentum from time to time according to the laws of motion.

The Earth is three million miles closer to the Sun at New Year's than it is in June, but here on the East Coast of North America, we are entering the coldest part of the year.

The seasonal rhythms on our blue-green planet are orchestrated by the fact that, as the Earth revolves around the Sun, the Earth's axis wobbles off-center, tilting some 23°27' from the perpendicular, relative to the plane of the planet's orbit.

The Earth is nearly spherical, and receives parallel rays from the Sun as it rotates daily on its axis in its annual orbit around the Sun. The tilting of the Earth's axis remains basically constant throughout the year. Since the Earth's axis is always pointed in approximately the same direction in space during a given yearly cycle, each terrestrial pole is turned alternately toward and away from the sun during a given solar year.

This wobble tilts the Northern Hemisphere away from direct solar exposure during the autumn and winter, and causes the Sun to appear lower and lower in the sky for fewer and fewer hours per day in the Northern Hemisphere during the autumn months, until we reach the Winter Solstice, the point where the planetary wobble begins to tilt the Northern Hemisphere back in the other direction, increasing the length of time the Earth is exposed to the Sun each day, and causing the Sun to appear higher and higher in the sky.

Beginning on this Sunday, December 20, we enter the three-day period called "The Winter Solstice Window", when the sun appears to stand still from the standpoint of a viewer on Earth, and rises in the same place along the horizon for three days in a row.

The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Every day thereafter until the end of June, days will grow longer and longer.

Why then does the Winter Solstice herald the onset of winter? As days grow longer, one might expect days to grow warmer as well.

The Solstice is followed by winter because the atmosphere and conditions on the Earth's surface affect the progress of seasonal climate change.

The air, ground, rocks, lakes, rivers and oceans all conduct heat more slowly than the vacuum of space.

After the Summer Solstice in June each year in the Northern Hemisphere, days grow shorter and the Earth loses heat, but water, ground and air release their heat slowly, so that even though days are growing shorter, warm conditions prevail for some time.

For some weeks after the winter solstice, the daily increase in heat from slightly longer days is much more than offset by the cumulative cooling of ground, air and water on the Earth's surface, set in motion by the shorter days of fall, and cold weather prevails. It takes a long time for the rate of heating to overcome the rate of cooling, and that time lag determines the length of the winter season.

So as we enjoy winter sports or huddle around the fireplace, let us all meditate on the fact that despite appearances, day by day the web of life on Earth is being infused with cosmic forces conducive to life and growth, and conditions in our Solar System, and especially here on Earth, are creating a collective momentum toward light, warmth, growth and rebirth of vegetation on the Earth's surface. That momentum will sustain the long summer season and the harvest of early fall in the coming year.

This mystery, the eternal return of the light, implicit in the moment of greatest darkness, is what we celebrate at the Winter Solstice.

"Annually at this festival point in December the celestial rhythm of Earth and Sun come momentarily to pause," says biodynamic farmer, philosopher and astrologer Steven McFadden, "an anomaly that moves us inescapably into the deep, the dark, the other. At this Winter point, consciously or unconsciously, we set an inner pattern to guide what we will weave in the outer world through another solar cycle. We dream the dreams that will flower in another season. How much more powerful if we know we are dreaming? How much more beguiling if we know nature is inviting us to peer through the veils?"

Ancient Solstice Science and SpiritualityThe Winter Solstice has been held sacred in spiritual traditions around the world for thousands of years, as the time of the rebirth of the Sun, and of the birth of the Son of God.Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Icelandic, Irish and Hindu spiritual traditions speak of the succession of the Ages through a period of time known as the Great Year, calculated to be approximately 26,000 years, and the reincarnation of human souls through vast cycles of time. All these traditions celebrate yearly festivals dedicated to the return of the light, the birth, and re-birth of a Solar Deity.

It is quite likely that the Earth's wobble is the physical phenomenon underlying these diverse manifestations of spiritual science.

Because of the Earth's wobble, there is a 23°27' angle between the planes of the earth's equator and orbit. The Earth's axis performs a slow, wobbling movement in relation to the fixed Zodiacal constellations found in the plane of the ecliptic, and thus the site of the rising sun on the day of the Spring Equinox performs a slow, backwards movement through the signs of the Zodiac. This long cycle takes 25,920 years, and this cycle is known as the Precession of the Equinoxes.

From approximately 4000-2000 BC, the spring sun rose in the sign of Taurus, the Bull; from around 2000 BC to 1 BC the sun rose at the spring equinox in the sign of Aries, the Ram, and from I AD to the present it has risen in the sign of Pisces. We are now about to enter a 2,160 year long phase of the Great Year in which the spring equinox will find the sun rising in the sign of Aquarius, the Water-Bearer. This is the meaning of the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. We are living in the cusp between ages, a time that many ancient cultures speak of as being a time of great confusion, transition, challenge, and opportunity for spiritual advancement.For ancient civilizations, the Precession of the Equinoxes indicated a flaw in the Earth's orientation in space that seemed to be the root cause for seasonal fluctuations in temperature, rainfall and general weather conditions that resulted in the yearly vegetation cycle of birth, growth, decay, death and rebirth.

This wobble represented a kind of cosmic "original sin", the signature of human mortality writ large across the Earth's surface and indeed, across the vast expanse of the starry night skies.

Ancient astrologers were scientists and priests. These ancient practitioners of spiritual science devised rituals and myths that would explain the origins of the Universe and detail the descent of humanity into a creation fraught with the vicissitudes of Nature and circumscribed by the iron-clad limits imposed by the death of the physical body. They sought to provide spiritual practitioners with the wisdom teachings and the tools they would require to understand and transcend the unceasing cycle of birth, death – and reincarnation.

For it was obvious to these spiritual scientists that the human soul had its home and origin in realms that transcend the yearly seasonal cycles, overarching the incomprehensibly long cycles of the Great Cosmic Year, and that the soul, like the Sun, like the Earth's vegetation, was subject to a cosmic cycle of eternal return involving repeated birth, growth, death and resurrection.

On a social level, these astro-hierophants believed that it was necessary for human beings to participate in these yearly and cosmic cycles, attuning their efforts to the energies prevalent at the time, and performing spiritual tasks, rituals and prayers, designed to insure the ongoing cycles of eternal return would successfully initiate a new yearly cycle of birth and growth, a new yearly resurrection of the light at winter's onset, a new rebirth of vegetation slumbering in the depths of the Earth during the time of the dying of the light.

Evidence compiled by archeologists and comparative mythologists, and detailed in Dr. Thomas McEvilley's comprehensive work,"The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies", shows that in the fourth millennium BC, prior to the invention of writing, Sumerian spiritual scientists, working with an oral tradition that handed down memorized sunrise positions for the Spring Equinox over very long periods of time, correctly calculated the cycle of the Precession of the Equinoxes.

These Sumerian hierophants created a calendar of 72 five-day weeks with 5 additional inter-calendar days. Multiplying 72 by five we get 360, and multiplying 360 by 72, we get 25,920, the number of years in the Great Cosmic Year.

The Sumerians also created a sexagesimal number system, whose primary use throughout history has always been for astronomical observation. All this prior to the invention of writing.

"What the evidence just reviewed suggests is that the Sumerians, in the fourth millennium B.C. . . .had developed an alternative arithmetical method -- the sexagesimal – which would magically plug into the Precessional cycle and thus give greater force to human reckonings by harmonizing them with cosmic fact, and finally that they subsequently devised a myth of cycling time, since lost, which diffused secretly from one priestly caste to another, giving rise to variant myths with interrelated numerologies from Cambodia to Iceland," explains Dr. McEvilley, in "The Shape of Ancient Thought", p.79. "The alternative is that these steps were taken by some earlier culture or cultures and inherited by the Sumerians."

As another example of the importance of the Solstice to humanity’s various mystical traditions and religions, consider the case of Stonehenge, thought to date to around 2800 B.C. Sir Norman Lockyer was the first person to identify an astronomical reason for the orientation of Stonehenge, in a book published in 1906. He realized that on the summer solstice the sun rose at the end of the main axis, as it would have done in the second and third millenniums BC.

The huge circular stone megalithic structure at Newgrange, Ireland is estimated to be 3,200 years old, older than Stonehenge. Newgrange was built to receive a shaft of sunlight deep into its central chamber at dawn on the winter solstice.

Hundreds of other megalithic structures throughout Europe are oriented to the solstices and equinoxes. Archaeologists exploring the origins of ancient structures and their links to astronomical events have discovered similar sacred sites in the Americas, Asia, Indonesia, Africa, and the Middle East.

The Chumash Indians, who occupied coastal California for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans, "believed in supernatural forces and beings and they believed that humans could influence those forces for good or for evil," according to the University of Michigan website, Windows to the Universe. "The most important time of the year for the Chumash was right before the winter solstice. They believed that this was the time when the Sun might not choose to come back to the Earth. This would've obviously affected life on Earth and so it is not surprising that the Chumash took it upon themselves to influence the Sun to come back since it was a matter of life and death. The Chumash people held times of prayer and dancing that would last for several days. They observed the Sun by putting sun sticks and poles in the ground. This vigilance was meant to pull the Sun back to Earth."

Hannukah is the name of the Jewish Festival occurring around the time of the Solstice. Known as the Festival of the Lights, Hannukah occurred December 1-9 this year. The Hannukah celebration is tied to both lunar and solar festivals and calendars. Hanukkah begins three days before the new moon closest to the Winter Solstice.

Hanukkah commemorates the Maccabees' victory over the Greeks and the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem.

After many years of war and persecution, the Jewish people, who had been in exile, returned to their temple in Jerusalem, which lay in ruins. The Jews began rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 B.C. When they came to rededicate the Temple they found only one small flask of oil with which to light the menorah, or temple candleholder, which illuminated the sacred texts. This flask contained only enough oil for one day, yet the lamp burned for eight days (by which time a fresh supply of oil was obtained).

On the first night of Hanukkah, one light is lit. On each successive night a light is added until the eighth night, when all the lights are lit. The addition of light recalls the greatness and growth of the miracle. Candles are placed in the menorah from right to left, but lit from left to right. The highest candle, known as the Shamash or "servant", is used to light the other candles. Blessings are recited each night before the lights are kindled.

Hannukah recapitulates the basic Solstice themes of resurrection, this time of a temple, and of an entire people, the return of the light, and the waxing and triumph of the light.

In Iran, the Winter Solstice is the time of the Feast of Shab-e Yalda. "In most ancient cultures, including Persia, the start of the solar year has been marked to celebrate the victory of light over darkness and the renewal of the Sun," explains Massoume Price in his article on Yalda on Farsinet.

". . .Egyptians, four thousand years ago celebrated the rebirth of the sun at this time of the year. They set the length of the festival at 12 days, to reflect the 12 divisions in their sun calendar. They decorated with greenery, using palms with 12 shoots as a symbol of the completed year, since a palm was thought to put forth a shoot each month."

"The Persians adopted their annual renewal festival from the Babylonians and incorporated it into the rituals of their own Zoroastrian religion. The last day of the Persian month Azar is the longest night of the year, when the forces of Ahriman are assumed to be at the peak of their strength. While the next day, the first day of the month 'Day' known as 'khoram rooz' or 'khore rooz' (the day of sun) belongs to Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom. Since the days are getting longer and the nights shorter, this day marks the victory of Sun over the darkness. The occasion was celebrated in the festival of 'Daygan' dedicated to Ahura Mazda, on the first day of the month."

"'Day' Fires would be burnt all night to ensure the defeat of the forces of Ahriman. There would be feasts, acts of charity and a number of deities were honored and prayers performed to ensure the total victory of sun that was essential for the protection of winter crops. There would be prayers to Mithra (Mehr) and feasts in his honor, since Mithra is the Eyzad responsible for protecting 'the light of the early morning' known as 'Havangah. It was also assumed that Ahura Mazda would grant people's wishes, specially those with no offspring had the hope to be blessed with children if performed all rites on this occasion."

"One of the themes of the festival was the temporary subversion of order. Masters and servants reversed roles. The king dressed in white would change place with ordinary people. A mock king was crowned and masquerades spilled into the streets. As the old year died, rules of ordinary living were relaxed. This tradition persisted till Sassanian period, and is mentioned by Biruni and others in their recordings of pre-Islamic rituals and festivals. Its' origin goes back to the Babylonian New Year celebration. These people believed the first creation was order that came out of chaos. To appreciate and celebrate the first creation they had a festival and all roles were reversed. Disorder and chaos ruled for a day and eventually order was restored and succeeded at the end of the festival."

"The Egyptian and Persian traditions merged in ancient Rome, in a festival to the ancient god of seedtime, Saturn. The Romans exchanged gifts, partied and decorated their homes with greenery. Following the Persian tradition, the usual order of the year was suspended. Grudges and quarrels forgotten, wars would be interrupted or postponed. Businesses, courts and schools were closed. Rich and poor became equal, masters served slaves, and children headed the family. Cross-dressing and masquerades, merriment of all kinds prevailed. A mock king, the Lord of Misrule, was crowned. Candles and lamps chased away the spirits of darkness."

"Another related Roman festival celebrated at the same time was dedicated to Sol Invictus (the invincible sun). Originally a Syrian deity, this cult was imported by Emperor Heliogabalus into Rome and Sol was made god of the state. With the spread of Christianity, Christmas celebration became the most important Christian festival. In the third century various dates, from December to April, were celebrated by Christians as Christmas. January 6 was the most favored day because it was thought to be Jesus' Baptismal day (in the Greek Orthodox Church this continues to be the day to celebrate Christmas). In year 350, December 25 was adopted in Rome and gradually almost the entire Christian Church agreed to that date, which coincided, with Winter Solstice and the festivals Sol Invicta and Saturnalia. Many of the rituals and traditions of the pagan festivals were incorporated into the Christmas celebration and are still observed today."

Solstice Wisdom TeachingsWisdom teachings of the West provide us with insight into the deep spiritual meaning of the Christmas festival.

"In the days when genuine occult teaching was not disowned as it is today by materialistic thought but was the very wellspring of the life of the peoples, the Christmas Festival was a kind of memorial, a token of remembrance of a great happening on the Earth," explains mystical Christian philosopher, sage and educator Rudolf Steiner, in his Christmas 1905 lecture, given in Berlin, called "The Christmas Festival: A Token of the Victory of the Sun".

"At the hour of midnight the priests gathered around them their truest disciples, those who were the teachers of the people, and spoke to them of a Great Mystery. . . .This Mystery was connected with the victory of the Sun over the darkness. There was a time on the Earth when the light triumphed over the darkness. And it happened thus: in that epoch, all physical, all bodily life on Earth had reached the stage of animality only. The highest kingdom upon the Earth had only reached a stage at which it was preparing to receive something higher.

And then there came that great moment in evolution when the immortal, imperishable soul of man descended. Life had so far developed that the human body was able to receive into itself the imperishable soul. These ancestors of the human race stood higher in the scale of evolution than modern scientists believe, but the higher part of their being, the divine 'spark' was not yet within them. The divine spark descended from a higher planetary sphere to our Earth which was now to become the scene of its activity, the dwelling-place of the soul which henceforward can never be lost to us."

"We call these remote ancestors of humanity the Lemurian race," Steiner continues. "Then came the Atlantean race and the Atlantean race was followed by our own — the Aryan race. Into the bodies of the Lemurian race the human soul descended. This descent of the divine 'Sons of the Spirit,' this great moment in the evolution of mankind was celebrated by the sages of all times as the victory of the light over the darkness. Since then the human soul has been working in the body and bringing it to higher stages of development but not at all in the way that materialistic science imagines. At the time when the human soul was quickened by the Spirit, something happened in the universe, something that is one of the most decisive events in the evolution of mankind."

. . ." And now try to think of the course of human life in connection with the harmony of the universe. Man seems to become more and more akin to the great rhythms of Nature. If we think of all that encompasses the life of the soul, of the course of the Sun and everything that is connected with it, we are struck by something that closely concerns us, namely, the rhythm and the marvellous harmony in contrast to the chaos and lack of harmony in the human soul.

We all know how rhythmically and with what regularity the Sun appears and disappears. And we can picture what a stupendous upheaval there would be in the universe if for a fraction of a second only the Sun were to be diverted from its course. It is only because of this inviolable harmony in the course of the Sun that our universe can exist at all, and it is upon this harmony that the rhythmic life-process of all beings depends.

Think of the annual course of the Sun. — Picture to yourselves that it is the Sun which charms forth the plants in spring time and then think how difficult it is to make the violet or some other plant flower out of due season. Seed-time and harvest, everything, even the very life of animals is dependent upon the rhythmic course of the Sun.

And in the being of man himself everything that is not connected with his feelings, his desires and his passions, or with his ordinary thinking, is rhythmic and harmonious. Think of the pulse, of the process of digestion and you will feel the mighty rhythm and marvel at the wisdom implicit in the whole of Nature.

Compare with this the irregularity, the chaos of man's passions and desires, especially of his ideas and thoughts. Think of the regularity of your pulse, your breathing, and then of the irregularity, the erratic nature of your thinking, feeling and willing. With what wisdom the powers of life are governed where the prevailing rhythmic forces meet the challenge of the chaotic! And how greatly the rhythms of the human body are outraged by man's passions and cravings! Those who have studied anatomy know how marvellously the heart is constructed and regulated and how wonderfully it is able to stand the strain put upon it by the drinking of tea, coffee and spirits."

"There is wisdom in every part of the divine, rhythmic Nature to which our forefathers looked up with such veneration and the very soul of which is the Sun with its regular, rhythmic course. And as the wise men of old looked upwards to the Sun, they said to their disciples: 'Thou art the image of what the soul born within thee has yet to become and what it will become.' The divine cosmic Order was revealed in all its glory to the sages of old. And again, in the Christian religion we have the 'Gloria in excelsis.' The meaning of 'gloria' is revelation, not 'glory' in the sense of 'honour.' Therefore we should not say: 'Glory (honour) to God in the highest,' but rather: 'To-day is the revelation of the Divine in the heavens!' The birth of the Redeemer makes us aware of the 'Glory' streaming through the wide universe."

"In earlier times this cosmic harmony was placed as a great Ideal before those who were to be leaders among their fellow-men. Therefore in all ages and wherever there was consciousness of these things, men spoke of Sun Heroes. In the temples and sanctuaries of the Mysteries there were seven degrees of Initiation. I will speak of them as they were known in ancient Persia.

"The first stage is attained when a man's ordinary feeling and thinking is raised to a higher level, where knowledge of the Spirit is attained. Such a man received the name of 'Raven.' It is the 'Ravens' who inform the Initiates in the temples what is happening in the world outside. When medieval poetic wisdom desired to depict in the person of a great Ruler an Initiate who amid the treasures of wisdom contained in the Earth must await the great moment when newly revealed depths of Christianity rejuvenate mankind — when this poetic wisdom of the Middle Ages created the figure of Barbarossa, ravens were his heralds. The Old Testament, too, speaks of the ravens in the story of Elijah."

"Those who had reached the second stage of Initiation were known as 'Occultists'; at the third stage they were 'Warriors,' at the fourth, 'Lions.' At the fifth stage of Initiation a man was called by the name of his own people: he was a 'Persian,' 'Indian,' or whatever it might be. For that man alone who had reached the fifth degree of Initiation was regarded as a true representative of his people. At the sixth stage a man was a 'Sun Hero' or one who 'runs in the paths of the Sun.' And at the seventh stage he was a 'Father.'"

"Why was an Initiate of the sixth degree known as a Sun Hero? To reach this level on the ladder of spiritual knowledge a man must have developed an inner life in harmony with the divine rhythms pulsating through the cosmos. His life of feeling and of thinking must have rid itself of chaos, of all disharmony, and his inner life of soul must beat in perfect accord with the rhythm of the Sun in the heavens. Such was the demand made upon men at the sixth degree of Initiation. They were looked upon as holy men, as Ideals, and it was said that if a Sun Hero were to deviate from the divine path of this spiritual harmony, it would be as great a calamity as if the Sun were to deviate from its course. A man whose spiritual life had found a path as sure as that of the Sun in the heavens was called a 'Sun Hero,' and there were Sun Heroes among all the peoples."

". . .The Sun-Soul was the great example for the way in which a man's life must be ordered. How did the ancients conceive of the soul of a Sun Hero who had reached this inner harmony? They pictured to themselves that no longer did a single individual human soul live within him, but that forces of the cosmic Soul were streaming into him. This cosmic Soul was known in Greece as Chrestos, in the sublime wisdom of the East as Budhi. When a man no longer feels himself a single being, as the bearer of an individual soul, but experiences something of the universal Soul, he has created within himself an image of the union of the Sun-Soul with the human body and he has attained something of the very greatest significance in the evolution of mankind."

". . . If the glory, the revelation of the divine harmony in the heavenly heights is a real experience within us, and if we know that this harmony will one day resound from our own souls, then we can also feel what will be brought about in humanity itself by this harmony: peace among men of good-will. These are the two thoughts or, better, the two feelings which arise at Christmastide. When with this great vista of the divine ordering of the world, of the revelation, the glory of the heavens, we think of the future lying before mankind, we have a premonition even now of that harmony which in the future will reign in those who know that the more abundantly the harmony of the Cosmos fills the soul, the more peace and concord there will be upon the Earth.

The great ideal of Peace stands there before us when at Christmas we contemplate the course of the Sun. And when we think about the victory of the Sun over the darkness during these days of Festival there is born in us an unshakable conviction which makes our own evolving soul akin to the harmony of the cosmos — light over the darkness had always been commemorated. And so Christianity is in harmony with all the great world-religions. When the Christmas bells ring out, they are a reminder to us that this Festival was celebrated all over the world, wherever human beings knew what it signified, wherever they understood the great truth that the soul of man is involved in a process of development and progress on this Earth, wherever in the truest sense man strove to reach self-knowledge."

Wisdom Traditions of both East and West have always taught that the Winter Solstice presents those of us on the Path of Spirit with a unique opportunity for accelerated development in our chosen practices.

Those who wish to participate in the Esoteric Mysteries, the Wisdom School Teachings of Mystical Masters of the East and West, are encouraged to call upon Archangel Gabriel, the Guardian Archangel who presides over The Winter Solstice and the winter season at this most sacred time of year.

Gabriel is the Archangel known as the Leader of the Heavenly Hosts, the Messenger of the Lord. As Messenger of the Lord, Gabriel is first and foremost the Archangel of Vision, and also the Archangel of revelation, creativity and faithful service.

Gabriel is known as the messenger who brings good news from Divine realms. In the Old Testament, in the Book of Daniel, verses 8 and 9, Gabriel appeared to interpret Daniel’s dream vision of the future of Israel to the prophet.

Jewish sacred tradition says that Gabriel inspired Moses to write the Book of Genesis, and that Gabriel taught Joseph 70 languages he needed to rule in Egypt.

Islam teaches that the Archangel Gabriel revealed the 114 chapters of the Koran to Mohammed.

Most famously, as the self-announced “Bearer of Good Tidings of Great Joy”, Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary bearing a lily flower at the time of the Annunciation, bringing her the Good News that she was to become the Divine Mother of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This moment was at once a revelation, a fulfillment of prophecy, an interpretation of a sacred vision, and a unique sacred empowerment of the Virgin Mary.

Gabriel is often pictured with a trumpet, because he is expected to return at the Second Coming of Christ to announce the Turning of the Aeons, the Resurrection of the Dead, and the Last Judgement.

Gabriel figures prominently in the Sacred Tarot, the repository of the Wisdom Teachings of the West during the time of the Inquisition and thereafter, appearing in Trump 20, known as “Judgement”, which is also called “The Aeon” in some modern decks.

All the people, places and events pictured in the Tarot are not just archetypical figurations of chapters in the world’s history, they are, perhaps more importantly, representations of archetypical stages in the evolution of the Soul on its journey from animalistic instinctual behavior to rationalistic egoistic mentality and eventually to achievement of the ultimate goal, Unity consciousness and Self-realization. (For more information on the Tarot and the true Mystery Teachings of the East and West, see my article, “Tarot: The Yoga of the West”.

The Tarot teachings concerning the Last Judgement consider that apocryphal event to be the culmination of a lifetime’s spiritual practice, the doorway to liberation of the mind and enlightenment.

The Judgement or Aeon card is about transformation of the egoistic personality, and awakening to a higher consciousness, the birth of the Higher Mind, the dawning of the Higher Self, and represents the final preparations before the disciple can attain the final goal, Christ Consciousness, or Cosmic Consciousness, Self-Realization, pictured in Trump XXI, called The Universe.

In the Waite deck, Judgement pictures the Archangel Gabriel blowing his trumpet, as three figures, a man, a child and a woman, rise from coffins in the lower foreground. The man represents the conscious, rational egoistic mind, the woman represents the unconscious powers of instinctual wisdom, and the child represents the infant born of their union, the intuitive consciousness residing in the Higher Mind.

Gabriel’s golden horn delivers the sacred sound that triggers our awakening from the living death and spiritual imprisonment represented by consciousness dominated by the egoistic personality and the instinctual impulses of the unconscious mind. The energy signature of Gabriel’s horn is a sacred tone, ormantram, which also exists as a vision ­– a frequency of golden light. This golden light of inner awakening, which emanates from Gabriel’s horn, and at his command, appears in the mind’s eye on a field of deepest midnight blue during the meditative state at the moment of initiation and realization.

In the Western Mystery School Tradition, the Winter Solstice is traditionally the time when the initiate strives most intensely to attain this Gabriel initiation, which comprises the inner nativity, the birth of the Higher Mind and the Higher Self, the moment when the Inner Christ manifests to us offering us at least a transitory glimpse of Higher Worlds.

For students of the Ancient Wisdom, Gabriel’s role as bringer of visions makes him the Archangel who reveals the truth of one’s unique role in the world – which is known as the Higher Purpose, the Soul’s true calling, and empowers one to pursue that Higher Purpose successfully.

Thus the time of the Winter Solstice is the time for those walking the arduous path of Spirit to seek a vision of their Higher Purpose, to connect with the Divine Wisdom as revealed by Archangel Gabriel, and to connect with Higher Self and Higher Mind through the intercession of Gabriel, who interprets the super-rational wisdom found in Higher Realms into words and symbols that can be understood by the rational mind. Through Gabriel’s intercession, we can gain understanding of the mysteries of our own life’s journey, and of the larger mysteries surrounding the evolution of our spiritual brothers and sisters, our nation, and humanity as a whole.

Gabriel’s element is water and his chakra is the throat chakra, which is associated with the color blue, with creativity, and with communication. Traditionally, the opening of the throat chakra represents the beginning of the attainment of Higher Consciousness, once the heart is opened and compassion is attained. The opening of the heart chakra is a long, arduous process, which depends upon the purification of the emotions, which are associated with the element of water.

When we have successfully banished negative emotions, such as jealousy, greed, lust, and anger, and successfully released the old energies of past emotional traumas and failed relationships, then we are prepared for the Gabriel Initiation of the Winter Solstice.

This is why the season of Advent is traditionally a time of purification, and Christians are encouraged to perform acts of penance, fasting, and abstinence during the forty days prior to Christmas. Penance, fasting and abstinence are designed to purify the physical body, and also to cleanse the emotions, as well as turning our attention away from material pleasures and toward the summits of spiritual attainment.

The Gabriel Initiation

Those who wish to pursue the path leading to the Gabriel Initiation of the Winter Solstice are encouraged to spend the three day period of the Winter Solstice through Christmas in a spirit of wakeful awareness, open and waiting for a revelation, and to perform their normal spiritual practices in a relaxed, yet determined manner, in an attitude of certainty born of faith, for Gabriel is the Archangel of Faith.

As Messenger of the Lord, Gabriel appeared to the Shepherds in the Fields near Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, and announced to them the Nativity of Jesus Christ.

As it says in the second chapter of Luke, “. . . there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city ofDavid a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

On these three sacred days of the Solstice Festival, especially on Christmas Eve, the aspirant is encouraged to seek the Vision of the Inner Sunrise in a late night meditation session. If the preparation is adequate, and if the disciple’s spiritual evolution has brought the individual to a moment of inner awakening, and if the individual’s karma allows it, the disciple will receive an initiation.

To best prepare to receive this initiation, the disciple is encouraged to identify with the shepherds in the field near Jerusalem.

Quiet the mind, and enter into a meditative state using whatever practices have been taught to you by your Teachers and Guides. Call upon the Archangel Gabriel to illuminate your mind, to elevate your Soul, and to grant you a Vision of the Birth of the Christ Child, Unity Consciousness, your own Higher Self or Higher Mind.

Allow the indigo blue of a clear, cold starry night to permeate your consciousness. Ideally, you will see a field of deep midnight blue in your mind’s eye. Maintain an attitude of watchful wakefulness, expectant but open and relaxed.

Then, cast your consciousness through the center of the Earth, and into deep space on the other side of the globe, where the Sun is shining, radiant and golden. Imagine a ray of illumination, extending from your third eye, and penetrating through the depths of the Earth, and imagine that as this illuminating ray penetrates the Earth, your consciousness penetrates and illuminates the roots of your own personality, your own egoistic mind, your own human nature.

Allow images of the high and low points of your life, and of your past lives, if they are granted you, to appear as you penetrate deeper and deeper into your own Earthly nature. Maintain your inner equilibrium, and remain identified with the Inner Watcher who sees all without becoming emotionally involved, no matter how turbulent or difficult or painful or delightful those images of your inner lifetimes become as you envision them within your mind’s eye.

As each vision appears before you, simply observe what happens. Observe the emotions attached to these actions. Simply observe your own emotional reactions, and identify with that watchful presence within you rather than with the visions or the emotions they release.

Continue this practice in your meditation until you reach a point where you achieve inner stillness. For the Birth of the Word of God is found only in Silence. Although Gabriel’s element is water, his inner nature is Fire, and his Word which is a mantric blast from his trumpet is a brilliant Light. You will know you have achieved this inner stillness when the inner visions of your own Earthly nature dissipate and your field of vision is filled with the midnight blue of the starry night of Bethlehem.

Feel the peace that passes all understanding, for this is what the shepherds felt on that Nativity Night so long ago. Relax into this peaceful indigo blue energy. Allow the mind to completely relax. Let go of all thoughts, emotions and mental considerations. If you like, you may again call upon Archangel Gabriel to grant you an initiation or to grant you an initiation into the Birth of the Christ Child at this time.

If you are successful in this meditation, you will see a small, brilliant globe of golden light appear within the field of midnight blue in your mind’s eye and this golden globe will grow until a brilliant light fills your field of vision and you will have a sensation similar to that of being in an open field on a summer’s day, but without the heat – you will sense a downpouring of this brilliant light from above the crown of your head, streaming into your being, filling you with a brilliant, yet cool, golden light.

This is the golden dawn of the invincible sun within you. Know that this is the Gabriel Initiation, the announcement to you of your own inner awakening to Higher Consciousness. Whether or not you see everything described here in this meditation, it is highly productive spiritually to repeat this meditation as often as possible during the period between Christmas and Epiphany.

Consecrate this time as a time of your own personal Vision Quest. Concentrate during this period of inner questing upon your own strong, heartfelt desire to receive an understanding of your own Higher Purpose, and of the best path forward for you to achieve that Higher Purpose during the upcoming year. Open yourself to receive messages from the Universe in meditation, and in your daily life as synchronicities and in the form of meaningful coincidences of all kinds. Remain observant day and night.

May the Archangel Gabriel favor you with a Vision of your path forward in life during this High Holy Season, and may the Archangel’s trumpet blast penetrate your inner ear, awakening you to the Life Divine that dwells within you. May you be present this year and every year to come at the Nativity of the Christ Child, and may his birth signal a birth of Unity Consciousness within you that will connect you ever more closely to the Spirit of the Invincible Sun.

Solstice at the Turning of the AgesAt the time of the Winter Solstice 2005, the Sun was located near the Galactic Center, where the Milky Way intersects the ecliptic, an area sacred to the Mayans, known as the home of Hunab K'u, the Creator God, the Center of Consciousness that manifested our Galaxy through a whirling "cosmic womb" in space. Hunab K'u was also thought to be the gateway to other galaxies beyond our own. The Mayans believed that all activities in our Galaxy were directed and shaped by Divine intelligence manifested as periodic bursts of energy emanating from this Galactic Center.

Modern astronomers have verified that there is a "black hole" at the center of the whirling disk which is the Milky Way, and that this "black hole" emits and swallows stars.

In March of 2005, physicist and astronomer Dr. Scott Hyman announced the discovery of an intermittent signal coming from the Galactic Center, which seems to be intelligently directed. (See Strange Rumblings at the Center of Our Galaxy.)

"The ancient Mayan astronomers accurately predicted, over 1500 years ago, the exact alignment of the Earth, the Sun, the star cluster Pleiades and of the center of our Galaxy that will take place at the end of the present long cycle on the Gregorian year 2012," according to Hunab K'u researcher Hector Carreon. "On the Mayan Long Calendar the day designated as 4 Ahau 3 Kankin (13.0.0.0.0) falls on December 21, 2012 and this day will mark 'El Fin de los Tiempos' or the end of the long cycle at which time humanity will experience a new beginning. On this day, according to the Mayas and subsequent Meso-American civilizations, the return of Kukulcan (Quetzalcoatl) will take place."

New Age researchers and students of Mayan ways expect to see startling, unprecedented bursts of Cosmic energy emanating from the Galactic Center at the Winter Solstice of 2012, and predict that the Earth will be inundated by high-frequency waves that will trigger the elevation of human consciousness and simultaneously inaugurate a breath-taking array of profound climatological earth changes, ushering in a new age qualitatively different in every way from our present culture and consciousness.

This Winter Solstice, Lightworkers, meditators and everyone can begin to tune in to the energies of this New Age during the three-day Solstice Window we are now entering. Try it for yourself. Take a quiet moment, light a candle, symbol of the return of the light, and invoke the Higher Consciousness at the Galactic Center, which has been radiating high-frequency, intelligent energy broadcasts throughout this tumultuous year. Sit quietly and meditate upon the alignment of this year's Winter Solstice with that Galactic Center, and upon the scale of the transformations taking place in our world.

Reflect upon the difficulties and the sorrows experienced by so many around the world this year as a result of hurricanes, famine, war, disease, and human greed. Contemplate the fact that humanity is experiencing a difficult and painful initiation that is essential for our spiritual evolution as a species, and consistent with the demands traditionally placed upon humans, as individuals and as societies, during the time of the turning of the Ages.

Reflect upon the Great Cosmic Truth that despite the vicissitudes of life encountered during the cycling of the Ages, the human spirit continues to advance Age after Age, producing a continuous flowering of human culture in the form of Wisdom teachers, artists, scientists, and Lightworkers dedicated to the affirmation of the forces of Life, working diligently in service to humanity, to Nature and to Spirit.

Conscious of the grand arc of human evolution, let us rest in a state of radiant inner equanimity, like the Sun. Despite the tumultuous upheavals in our world today, it is nothing less than our historical and spiritual task to maintain our equilibrium at this time of World Transition, and to steadily, consciously and lovingly assist in the setting aside of old, outworn cultural forms and norms and in the birthing of the New Age that will replace the current global culture of greed, materialism and religious war.

Let us then celebrate the accelerating earth changes occurring around us and let us give thanks for the elevation of human consciousness we are currently experiencing worldwide at this time of conflict and global climate change at the cusp of the Age of Aquarius. Let us maintain a spirit of surrender, love and gratitude despite the physical discomforts, emotional upheaval, mental turmoil and soul angst that horrendously destructive outer events and tremendously demanding inner transformations now trigger within us.

It is ever the task of the clairvoyant, the spiritual being, to channel the energies of humanity's future evolution into the world of today. In this respect, little has changed over the centuries.

Those who are able to maintain their inner balance during this time of transformation are being offered access to the energies of Love generated within the crucible of the New Cosmic Age, as evidenced by the recent bursts of intelligent cosmic energy emanating from the Cosmic Center of our Galaxy.

For rest assured that no love is in vain, love will never lose its own, and those who walk the path of Spirit will inevitably experience for themselves the Victory of the Sun, despite the appearance of darkness all around them.

Love, light, peace, health, happiness, and well-being to you and yours throughout this Festival Season from Jane and Curtis and Satya Center. May you find harmony with Nature, become one with the power of the Spirit, plant the seeds of your own best and highest being deep within your heart, and may you receive the grace and guidance required to help you fulfill your loftiest spiritual goals.

LIBRARY SEARCH

OUR BOOKS

For the first time ever, ONLY at Satya Center: FREE newly updated chapters from Marcel Vogel’s how-to book on crystal healing. How to pick a Vogel wand and how to use a Vogel wand in healing and meditation.

New FREE E-book! Discover the origins of Lemurian Seed Crystals. See pictures of the Lemurian mines in Brazil. Discover how spiritual teachers of the East and West have used crystals, minerals and gemstones in spiritual practices, meditation, and healing for thousands of years.

FREE E-book. Cultivating love in our lives. How to achieve loving family relations and friendships, balanced love relationships and a loving relationship with spiritual worlds. How to enjoy healthy self-love. How to find and recognize your soulmate. How to maintain loving partnerships. How to unite with the Divine through meditation, prayer, loving contemplation and selfless service to humanity.

OUR AUTHORS

Computer programmer Ace Hoffman’s blog on the hazards of nuclear power receives tens of millions of hits yearly. Ace’s book THE CODE KILLERS is an expose of the nuclear power industry. Free download, too!

Betsy Cashen studied nutrition at Cornell University and has been a practicing dietitian since 1986. She was co-manager of a biodynamic farm for several years. She lives in Claverack, NY. If you want to send her a message, use the Satya Center contact us form.

Curtis is the co-owner and Editor of Satya Center. Curtis has been a publisher, editor and investigative journalist for 30 years, at WORTH magazine, Ameritrade, The Village Voice, The Nation, Mother Jones and many other publications. Curtis is a certified past-life regression therapist and a Reiki Master.

Dennis Klocek is Director of the Consciousness Studies Program at Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, CA. Dennis is author of Seeking Spirit Vision, Drawing from the Book of Nature, Weather and Cosmos, and A Bio-Dynamic Book of Moons.

Dr. Marina Angeli is a psychiatrist in private practice in Athens, Greece. She is a graduate of the Flower Essence Society Practitioner Training and Certification Program. For more information, write to Dr. Angeli.

Jane Sherry is co-owner and Artistic Director of Satya Center. Jane is a fine artist with work in the Getty Museum, the New York Public Library, major Ivy League universities, and many private collections. Jane is also a poet, a biodynamic gardener, a Reiki Master, and a certified past life regression therapist.

Jed A. Myers is a Seattle poet and musician whose writing has been published in various journals. His loose network of collaborators, ArtsforHearts, puts on benefits in local spaces for a wide range of real life causes.

Julia Brayshaw lives in Olympia, Washington where she maintains a private pratice in psychotherapy. She is a Flower Essence Society certified practitioner. Julia can be reached by contacting the Flower Essence Society.

Linde Farmer R.N. is a Wellness nurse who has written for LILIPOH Magazine. LILIPOH is a quarterly magazine exploring Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophical approach to nutrition, health, farming, education, spirituality and the environment.

Marcel Vogel one of America’s most prominent late Twentieth Century spiritual scientists. Marcel Vogel worked for IBM for many years, and is credited with creating the famous “Vogel healing wands” made of quartz crystal which are so popular around the world today. Visit our Vogel archive, with many of Marcel’s writings.

Mirabai Starr is the author of highly acclaimed new translations of the writings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. She teaches philosophy and world religions at the University of New Mexico.

Peter Dale Scott, a former Canadian diplomat and English Professor at the UC Berkeley, is a poet, writer, and researcher. His books include The War Conspiracy, The Iran-Contra Connection, Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America, and Drugs Oil and War.

Phillip Lindsay has been a student and teacher of the Ageless Wisdom and Esoteric Astrology for over 25 years, and is the author of several books on the subject. See Philip’s website, The Esoteric Astrologer.

Rene received an M.D. from the University of Havana. He has coordinated many research and development projects in Homeopathy, including the Homeopathy Hospital Project. Rene has also taught workshops on Homeopathy in Cuba and Guatemala.

Ross Rentea, M.D. has been in Chicago since 1983, practicing as an anthroposophical doctor together with Andrea, his wife, at their clinic, the Paulina Medical Clinic. Visit their new website, TrueBotanica.com.

Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and author. His most recent book is The Sense of Being Stared At, And Other Aspects of the Extended Mind. His book Seven Experiments that Could Change the World was voted Book of the Year by the British Institute for Social Inventions.

Starhawk, a San Francisco writer, is committed to the marriage of spiritual work and political activism. She is the author of The Spiral Dance, The Pagan Book of Living and Dying, and other works of nonfiction and fiction.

While Trish Mooney worked as a dance and movement instructor she discovered she could see auras and energy. She became a Flower Essence Society Certified Practitioner after attending the 1999 FES Practitioner Training Program. Contact Trish.

Walter Wink was Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. Among his various books are The Human Being, Peace Is The Way, and The Bible in Human Transformation. Visit Walter's page at Amazon.com.